Traffic: The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

Traffic Nov 1, 1971 UK: ISLAND ILPS 9180 and US: ISLAND SW 9306
# Preview Title Duration
1 Hidden Treasure (Winwood, Capaldi)
Take a walk down by, take a walk down by the river
There's a lot that you, there's a lot that you can learn
If you've got a mind that's open, if you've got a heart that yearns

If you listen to, if you listen to the water
You will hear the sound, you will hear the sound of life
There's a million different voices, there is happiness and strife

Message in the deep, from a strange eternal sleep
That is waiting there, that is waiting there for you
Like hidden treasure
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.S. Music Ltd (PRS) & Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin by
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)
04:16
2 The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (Winwood, Capaldi)
If you see something that looks like a star
And it's shooting up out of the ground
And your head is spinning from a loud guitar
And you just can't escape from the sound
Don't worry too much, it'll happen to you
We were children once, playing with toys
And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

The percentage you're paying is too high priced
While you're living beyond all your means
And the man in the suit has just bought a new car
From the profit he's made on your dreams
But today you just read that the man was shot dead
By a gun that didn't make any noise
But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest was
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish
Would you ask for something like another chance?
Or something similar as this? Don't worry too much
It'll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys
And the thing that disturbs you is only the sound of
The low spark of high-heeled boys

If I gave you everything that I owned and asked for nothing in return
Would you do the same for me as I would for you?
Or take me for a ride, and strip me of everything including my pride
But spirit is something that no one destroys
And the sound that I'm hearing is only the sound
The low spark of high-heeled boys
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F.S. Music Ltd (PRS) & Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin by
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)
11:35
3 Light Up or Leave Me Alone (Jim Capaldi)
Sometimes I feel like I'm fading away
You're looking at me, I've got nothing to say
Don't make me angry with the games that you play
Either light up or leave me alone

You walk in my room, you lie in my bed
You open your mouth, shoot someone dead
All of a sudden you're inside my head
Either light up or leave me alone

Spending my bread like it grew on a tree
You're trying to tell me 'bout the birds and the bees
The skirt that you're wearing is way past your knees
Either light up or leave me alone

You're up all night preaching your mind
Come home in the morning with your latest find
I'm gonna have to lay it to you straight on the line
Either light up or leave me alone
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Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
Controlled in the U.S. and Canada by
Ackee Music Inc. (ASCAP)
04:55
4 Rock & Roll Stew (Ric Grech, Jim Gordon)
Sitting in a transit all night long
Playing clubs and rocking right on
The road's much too long since I've been wasting my time
Wish I was home again sipping my wine

And I'm gone, gone, gone, I don't care
'Cause I'm gone, gone, gone, I don't care
It's where I'm from, I'm on the road again

LA to London is a mighty long time
Eight hours flying can bring you down
Sitting near a suit who's a red-neck going,
Eyes are moving but there's no life showing

Now that I'm home again
Things are much better, biding my time with my little go-getter
No matter what they say, no matter what they do,
Gonna end up in the middle of that rock & roll stew
Gone, gone, gone ...
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Chappell & Co/Bienstock Publishing Co./Jerry Lieber Music
Mike Stoller Music (ASCAP)/for Amy Music (BMI)
04:29
5 Many a Mile to Freedom (Steve Winwood, Anna Capaldi)
Many a mile to freedom, many a smile to tell
Ask my bluebird to sing you, from the heart of a wishing well
Call all my reindeer to graze here, call all my grain to grow
Then together we flow like the river
Then together we melt like the snow

Many a thought unanswered, many a tale to tell
Ask my bluebird to sing you, from the heart of a wishing well
If you should ask me to give you the reason for life that we know
Then together we flow like the river
And together we melt like the snow

Many a mile to freedom, many a smile to tell
Ask my bluebird to sing you, from the heart of a wishing well
If you should ask me to give you the reason for life that we know
Then together we flow like the river
Then together we melt like the snow

A few more miles to go
Miles to freedom
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.S. Music Ltd (PRS) & Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin by
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)
07:26
6 Rainmaker (Winwood, Capaldi)
Rainmaker, rainmaker
The sky is gray just by the touch of your hand
Rainmaker, rainmaker
Make me some rain, make all my crops grow tall

Rainmaker, rainmaker
The sky is gray, the ground is so hard
It's been cracked by the sun
Rainmaker, you know my work's never done
------------------------------------------------------------------------
F.S. Music Ltd (PRS) & Freedom Songs Ltd. (PRS)
All rights on behalf of F.S. Music Ltd. admin by
Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (BMI)
07:39

 

Bonus track (2002 reissue)

"Rock & Roll Stew Parts 1 & 2" (Grech, Gordon) – 6:07

Note: This track is the most complete version of the original studio performance and is presented here with no interruption. The original album version fades out earlier. This recording was also edited into the 2 sides of the "Rock & Roll Stew" single. The original Part 1 (side 1 of the single) was an edit (with shortened instrumental break) of the album version. The original Part 2 (side 2 of the single) was a jam that extended past the album version's fadeout.

 

 

 

PLAYERS:

 

Steve Winwood: Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Organ

Chris Wood: Sax, Flute

Jim Capaldi: Vocals, Percussion

Jim Gordon: Drums

Mike Kellie - Drums on "Rainmaker"

Rick Grech: Bass, Violin

Reebop Kwaku Baah: Percussion

 

NOTES:

 

Title for "Low Spark" was suggested by actor Michael J. Pollard

Recorded in 1971 at Island Studios, London

Engineered by Brian Humphries

Cover Design by Tony Wright

Photography by Richard Pola

 

SINGLES:

 

"Rock & roll stew part 1 / part 2" released as US single, 1971